War Endings Glance

The Associated Press

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Some past wars and how they ended _ or didn't:

_Revolutionary War: The end of the war began when British Major Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrendered more than 8,000 of his men on Oct. 19, 1781, after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of American and French forces. The Treaty of Paris, which recognized the independence of the United States, was signed two years later on Sept. 3, 1783.

_Civil War: Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee set the ball rolling on April 9, 1865, by surrendering to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Va. Other Confederate forces surrendered over the next several weeks, with the last turning themselves in on May 26.

_World War I: The war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, when Germany accepted armistice terms set forth by the Allies, and agreed to leave the territories taken during battle and to surrender large numbers of arms, ships and other war materials. The Treaty of Versailles was signed near Paris on June 28, 1919.

_World War II: Japan agreed to end the war on Aug. 14, 1945, a week after Americans dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 100,000 people. The war officially ended with Japan signing the surrender terms in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri.

_Korean War: An armistice signed July 27, 1953, ended the fighting, and Korea was divided between north and south, along the 38th parallel. A permanent peace treaty has never been signed.

_Vietnam: The war in South Vietnam ended April 30, 1975, with the government's surrender to the Communists, and after Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops entered the capital of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. Hours before the capital fell, the United States airlifted out all Americans who remained in Vietnam.

_Persian Gulf War: President George H.W. Bush announced Feb. 27, 1991, that allied forces had liberated Kuwait and would suspend military operations against Iraq. Iraq agreed to the cease-fire and accepted nearly all the allies' terms to end the fighting.